It was only a matter of time before Netflix expanded it’s effort to other consoles, and it looks like they are doing just that. Both the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii will be getting streaming content very soon, at no extra cost to current customers. For those that have been living in the dark ages, Netflix is the big company that lets you rent an unlimited number of movies and television shows for a very reasonable monthly subscription fee. About a year ago Netflix launched a streaming service on the Xbox 360 that has since exploded in popularity.

Interestingly enough these new deals surfaced right around the one-year anniversary of Netflix being available on the 360. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to say that Microsoft had a one-year exclusive contract with them, and now it’s over. It will be interesting to see what happens next, as the service will cost half as much on the PS3 and Wii than it does on the 360 (remember, streaming is only available to XBL Gold Members). Perhaps Microsoft will be forced to offer it to Silver Members as well? Only time will tell.

Netflix streaming on the PS3 will come as early as next month, although Wii owners will have to wait until the holidays. Unfortunately for PS3 owners, you will need to put a special Blu-ray disc in the PS3 each time you wish to use Netflix, which is a fairly big inconvenience. Sony has stated that they are working on a way to integrate the service into the XMB, but it will not be available until “sometime next year”. There is still no official word on how it will be delivered to the Wii.

If you currently own a Nintendo DSi, you’ve probably heard about the DSi’s ability to read and play music files from a SD card. This is a very exciting feature, since it enables you to also use your DSi as a portable music player. However, convincing your DSi to read music files isn’t quite as easy as simply copying them onto a SD card. To properly format your music files so that they can be read on your DSi, you do need to have a bit of technical ‘know-how’ of how the DSi recognizes music files. To simplify this process, here is an easy step-by-step guide for converting music files so that your DSi will be able to play them successfully.

Introduction to the *.aac file format for your DSi

With a quick internet search, most official Nintendo FAQ’s will tell you that the DSi is only able to read files that are in the *.aac format. However, this is slightly misleading. While you need to encode your files in *.aac format in order for them to be read by your DSi, they need to have the extension *.m4a. To explain this, think of the *.aac format as the internal contents of a music file, and the *.m4a as the container that these files are placed in so that they can be recognized by the DSi. This is the main reason why many people encounter problems with their DSi reading *.aac music files, since they are not packaged in the *.m4a container. There are several different methods that you can use to convert music files so that they can be recognized by your DSi, though the simplest method involves using iTunes.

Converting music files for your DSi using iTunes

The iTunes music player has a built-in feature that allows conversion of music files in your iTunes library to “.aac” (*.m4a) format. This is the simplest method you can use for converting your files, though the iTunes converter does take a slightly looooooooong time to convert music.

[Step 1] - Add Your Music Files to iTunes

If you don't use iTunes as your default media player (VLC ftw! :p), you will first have to import the music files you wish to convert into your iTunes music library. For organizational purposes, the best way to do this is to make a new playlist, and add the music files to be converted to that playlist. The music files can be in *.wav, *.mp3 or other music formats. If you are trying to convert music files in *.flac format, the process becomes slightly more complicated. We'll try to cover that type of conversion in another post.

[Step 2] - Select Your Songs

Select all of the songs that you wish to convert by drag-clicking over them, or by using the shift + click method.

[Step 3] - Convert Them

After your songs are selected, right click on any one of your selected songs. In the menu that appears, select the option "Create AAC Version". Once you have done this, a grayed out title of the first song to be converted will appear on your iTunes playlist. The displayed "Bitrate" and "Time" of the song will be labeled as "Incomplete" until the conversion process is finished. If you wish to check the status of your converting songs, click on the "Converting..." list that appears as the first option under the "Playlist" category on the right side of your iTunes interface.

[Step 4] - Navigate to Your Newly Converted Songs

Once the conversion process is finished, your converted songs will be displayed on the same playlist as the previous versions of the songs. However, they will usually be located in a different folder, unless you specified otherwise by previously configuring your options. By default, your converted music files will be in C:/(User)/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/(Artist). If you can't find your converted music files, you can always right click on the song in iTunes and select the "Get Info" option, which will also display the location of the song. Remember, your newly converted files will be categorized as being in *.m4a format, not *.mp3 or *.aac.

[Step 5] - Copy your Converted Songs to Your SD Card

Select your converted songs (be sure they are displayed as being in *.m4a format) and drag them to your SD card to initiate the copying process. It's usually best to put them into a folder titled "Music" on your SD card, for organizational purposes. If you wish, you can also separate them by artist, album or genre.

[Step 6] - Play With Your Music!

You're done! Insert your SD card into your Nintendo DSi, and navigate to the "Sound" menu option. You should be able to then navigate to the folder(s) containing your music, and then play them with your DSi's sound player. The DSi has some really fun simple sound manipulation options, which can be very entertaining.

A quick note about Bitrate

If you want to adjust the quality of your converted sound files in iTunes, there is a bit of a process involved. You need to tweak this option before you convert your files. Due to the multiple steps of this process, we will cover this in a later post. Until then, you can find a general guide that will help you adjust your bitrate here.

According to a new issue of Nintendo Power, Arceus will be given away at Toys ‘R’ US all over the US between November 7th and 15th. This event is compatible with Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum for the Nintendo DS. This particular Arceus unlocks a special event that provides some backstory on the pokemon. When transfered to the upcoming HeartGold and SoulSilver titles, it will unlock yet another event that allows you to collect a Level 1 Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina.

This event is the last for the fourth generation of Pokemon, so fans are not going to want to miss it. All you have to do is take your DS or DSi to a participating Toys ‘R’ Us, select Mystery Gift from the title screen menu, and after Arceus downloads you are good-to-go.

We will post a reminder when the event goes live.

[Via serebii]

Our friends over at HackMii have updated the Homebrew Channel for the Nintendo Wii to v1.0.6, fixing a freezing issue a small percentage of users had with v1.0.5. Users can update via the Homebrew Channel itself, or you can use the updated v0.6 HackMii installer. They also encourage users to take advantage of their bug tracker, if you happen to come across one, as well as look over the updated readme files.

Download: HackMii Installer v0.6

[Via HackMii]

bannerbomb, the popular SD card exploit for the Wii, has been upgraded to Alpha v2. This update fixes compatibility with System Menu 4.2. While previously those who had upgraded to 4.2 were limited to launching homebrew via game exploits, now everyone can launch homebrew via the Wii’s System Menu. We highly recommend taking advantage of the HackMii Installer, which will set up the Homebrew Channel, BootMii, and DVDX automatically.

Click the read link below to download the required files, and get detailed instructions on using bannerbomb. Be sure to complete the survey on the download page, to make sure developer Comex gets some feedback on what works!

[Read]

There was quite a scare two days ago when Nintendo released System Menu 4.2 for the Wii, which deleted and blocked most homebrew applications from running. Thankfully HackMii is here to the rescue with a brand new version of the HackMii Installer, compatible with Nintendo’s latest futile attempt to block out homebrew use.

• For those that have already upgraded to System Menu 4.2, you will need to use the Indiana Pwns exploit to launch the installer.
• For those that have not already upgraded (but would like to) you should run the installer before updating to prevent Nintendo from deleting the Hombrew Channel and DVDX.

BootMii may have been deleted if you were using v2 or v3, simply reinstall it after you update. HackMii installs new versions of the Homebrew Channel, BootMii, and DVDX. To read the changelog, click the read link below.

[Read]
Download: http://bootmii.org/download

Legendary homebrew dev bushing has made a post on wiibrew earlier today, expressing his amusement and disappointment with Nintendo’s latest attempt to stop homebrew.

“That’s the best they could come up with? Seriously? This is almost as bad as the first update (3.3) they did to (try to) kill the Twilight Hack, which they justified with “an enhanced Mii channel”. Don’t update. Seriously.”

Bushing also takes the time to explain what exactly the update does, and assures us that there will be a fix out in the next few days. Regardless however, DO NOT UPDATE at this time, as it will certainly make your homebrew restoration process quite a bit more difficult. Click the read link below to see all that Bushing had to say.

[Read]

Today Nintendo released version 4.2 of their System Menu. DO NOT UPDATE if you plan on running homebrew anytime soon. We don’t have any solid confirmations on anything yet, however some users are reporting that the update removes some homebrew on your system, including the Homebrew Channel, BootMii, all cIOS versions, and Bannerbomb.

The only known change is an update to the Wii Shop Channel. We will keep you updated as we get confirmation on it’s effects…

UPDATE: Bannerbomb is confirmed to not work anymore. This update installs a new IOS: IOS70.

The Homebrew channel is confirmed to be uninstalled when you update. BootMii is also uninstalled. The Indiana Pwns exploit we talked about earlier today seems to still work as well as smashstack. As of now, these are the only ways to run homebrew on a 4.2 Wii.

Today Nintendo of America has released the Oak’s Letter WiFi event for Pokemon Platinum, which is available until November 8th 2009. This event allows you to capture a Lv. 30 Shaymin in it’s Land Form, and change it into it’s Sky Form. To receive Oak’s Letter:

• Select ‘Mystery Gift’  on the boot menu.
• Select ‘Receive Gift’
• Select ‘Get Via Nintendo WFC’.
• Opt to receive the gift.
• Pick up the gift from any pokemart’s delivery man.

I’ll let serebii.net explain how to activate the event:

“Once picked up at the Pokémart, go to the Route 224 and make your way to the very end of it. You will see that the area has turned to be filled with flowers as opposed to the muddy rockface area it was beforehand. Professor Oak and Marley soon come up and say that you’re meant to write down what you’re most thankful for by the stone. Once done, Shaymin will appear and run up north to the Flower Paradise. Once you make your way up there, you will find Shaymin in its Land Forme ready to be captured. However, this Shaymin will also activate the Glacidea Flower and, if you already have it, it is transformable.”

Seems like Nintendo is trying to push out all of the WiFi events in a hurry, to make room for Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver.  The only one remaining for the US is the Jirachi event.

[Via Serebii]

The exploit works via a buffer overflow within the game, specifically the art room. The exploit itself is simple enough to install, and once successfully executed loads any ‘boot.elf’ file. We recommend the HackMii Installer, which installs everything you need (including the Homebrew Channel) in one simple package.

Download and Source: http://hackmii.com/2009/09/indiana-pwns/
Installation Instructions: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Indiana_Pwns